MTA refutes claim on Verrazano Bridge

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority refuted claims that the Verrazano-Narrows bridge is the state's "most dangerous."

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority insisted Thursday that its longest and youngest bridge, the Verrazano-Narrows, is also one of its soundest.

The comments came one day after the publication of a report on structurally deficient bridges across the country from Transportation for America, a coalition working toward transportation reform. An official at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a nonprofit that is part of the coalition, had labeled the Verrazano as the state’s “most dangerous” span.

“The Verrazano-Narrows is completely safe and any suggestion otherwise is a gross misinterpretation of inspection records,” said a spokeswoman for the MTA, which operates the bridge. She also cited the most recent, 2010 inspection of the bridge, noting it concluded that it is “structurally sound with no red flags or imminent structural problems.” A red flag is an issue that needs to be addressed immediately. “It appears the data in the (Transportation for America) report came from a 2008 inspection,” she added.

In recent years, the agency has spent hundreds of millions of dollars maintaining the span, which links Brooklyn and Staten Island. The agency has $620.5 million in its capital budget for future repairs and maintenance. That money comes from tolls on the bridge, currently $13 for motorists paying cash, and from the sale of Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority bonds backed by tolls.

“Every bridge will have structural deficiencies, but it doesn’t mean it’s about to fall down,” the MTA spokeswoman said. She noted that the fact that the bridge has structural deficiencies and is the most trafficked in the state doesn’t make it the most dangerous. “It’s very alarmist," she said.

Kate Slevin, the executive director of Tri-State Transportation Campaign, agreed with the MTA.

“We don’t want to scare people,” she said. “The bridge is in need of repair but the numbers don’t show it as the most dangerous bridge.”

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